Jira’s not bad. So why are so many teams looking at alternatives like Manuscript?

For years, most software development teams have treated Jira like the default choice. But the way we create software has changed, and stakes are a lot higher. Suddenly, it’s obvious why the best teams are considering new project management tools.

Over the past several years, everybody who cares about tech has become acutely aware that software really matters in the world — it has a huge impact, both positive and (potentially) negative. But while our perspective on tech has changed, a lot of the tools we use haven’t kept up.

We think that’s the reason why, when we launched Manuscript, we heard from so many people with, uh… strong opinions about Jira who told us they were hungry for another option. Don’t get us wrong — the people who make Jira are very nice folks, and very smart, but when there’s a constant stream of complaints, there’s got to be a deeper cause.

What people mean when they complain about Jira isn’t just about the tool itself—it’s about how Jira makes them feel when trying to work as a team.

A jack-of-all-trades platform is always going to leave at least some members of a team exasperated. It’s virtually impossible for the same tool to be useful for both lawyers reviewing documents and for developers crafting great software. Worse, that open-ended design makes it all too easy to focus on process over products, leaving everybody on the team sitting through endless meetings or filling out pointless forms instead of doing their actual work.

As you might guess, we think there’s a better way to do things.

What’s different in Manuscript?

We think you’ll be excited to try Manuscript for your next software project, or even just for your next team sprint. Here’s why:

Work with what you’ve got: Manuscript helps your team use the best tools for the job, by seamlessly integrating with popular platforms like Slack, GitHub and Trello, at no additional cost. We’re not trying to upsell you to a bundled chat platform like HipChat, so we can make it easy to connect to the tools your team already loves. And you don’t have to sort through 100 different third-party Slack integrations (which cost extra!) just to plug everything in together.

Be opinionated: Manuscript has a strong point of view about what makes for good software, building in best practices like assigning each case to a single person. That means you spend less time in meetings where people are pointing fingers at each other.

Real search, for a workflow that works: Nothing is more infuriating than not being able to find an issue that you just created. Manuscript’s powerful search features work every time, letting you visually build a search and save it for re-use, without having to know some special magical syntax or obscure query language.

More cost-effective: Manuscript gives you all the tools you need, for one simple per-user price. It’s cheaper to start, since there’s no additional cost for Slack support or kanban boards or our powerful AI-based inbox management, and cheaper to run over the long term, since you don’t have to pay somebody to babysit a complex customization of your workflow.

The first 12 of the 72 possible paid Slack integrations you get when searching for “Slack” in Jira’s marketplace.

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The truth is, the process of changing culture in a development team takes time. Evolving how we think of creating technology doesn’t happen overnight.